"Remember the Ladies" Women in the Curriculum
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Improvement which is part of the Department of Education.
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In March 1776, Abigail Adams implored her husband John to "...remember
the ladies, and be more generous and favorable to them than your
ancestors...." This plea, unfortunately, did not affect the practical
political behavior of John Adams and other founders of the United States.
It was not until the 20th Amendment to the Constitution in 1919 that women
throughout the United States gained a fundamental right of citizenship:
the right to vote for representation in government.
The month of March, National Women's History Month, is an appropriate
time to recall Abigail Adams' statement and to assess how women are
treated in history and in other subjects of the social studies curriculum
in schools. To what extent and how do social studies educators "remember
the ladies" in curriculum development and teaching? This ERIC Digest
examines (1) treatment of women in standard textbooks and curricula, (2)
strategies for including women in the social studies curriculum, (3)
available resources for teachers and students, and (4) justifications for
improving treatment of women in the curriculum.
HOW HAVE WOMEN BEEN TREATED IN
SOCIAL STUDIES TEXTBOOKS AND CURRICULA?
Textbooks are staples of teaching and learning in schools, and a
student reads more than 32,000 textbook pages as he or she moves from
elementary through secondary school. What images of women are presented on
these pages?
Several textbook studies of the 1970s revealed slight coverage of women
in history and other subjects of the social studies, and the few
references to women in the textbooks tended to convey one-sided images of
dependency, domesticity, and passivity--negative stereotypes rather than
balanced and realistic portrayals of changing roles in modern society (Wirtenberg
et al. 1980, 12). A 1972 study of 172 textbooks and supplementary
materials used in the Kalamazoo, Michigan school system concluded that
there was pervasive sexism in the curriculum. A 1978 study of textbooks
and supporting materials used by the Michigan Department of Education
yielded similar findings. All materials were flawed, especially in sex
bias and treatment of Amerindians, and handicapped people. Garcia and
Woodrick (1979) concluded from their reviews of textbook studies and
widely used textbooks that much needed to be done to more accurately
depict both white and non-white females.
Coverage of women in textbooks increased throughout the 1980s. Neither
the quality nor the quantity of these treatments has been adequate,
however. Too often, women have been included in the margins of textbook
content instead of at the core, as tokens or bit players rather than as
major actors in the mainstream of history. "Great women" in history, for
example, have been exhibited in photographs or special biographical
sketches apart from the textbook narrative. The usual token females in
United States history textbooks have been Mercy Otis Warren or Abigail
Adams in the founding period, Sacajawea with the Lewis and Clark
expedition, Harriet Tubman with the abolitionist movement, Jane Addams in
conjunction with immigration and urban development, Susan B. Anthony as a
champion of women's suffrage, Eleanor Roosevelt and Francis Perkins during
the New Deal era, and Jacqueline Kennedy as the beautiful, bereaved widow
of an assassinated President.
There has also been a tendency to feature female "firsts" in
history--Marian Anderson as the first black opera star at the Met, Sandra
Day O'Connor as the first female Supreme Court Justice, Elizabeth
Blackwell as the first female physician in the United States, Amelia
Earhart as the first female aviator, and so forth. These women, though
deserving recognition, seemingly have been included more as an
after-thought, separated from the main themes in the textbooks and
curricula of elementary and secondary schools. Little recognition has been
given to the brave pioneer women facing the perils of the western
frontier, to the women working on farms and in factories, to the women in
the labor movement, or to women as sustainers of families in urban and
rural settings.
WHAT ARE SOME STRATEGIES FOR
INCLUDING WOMEN IN SOCIAL STUDIES?
Educators today are calling for integration of women in the various
subjects that constitute the social studies curriculum, e.g., history,
geography, civics, economics, sociology. For example, Gerda Lerner, the
prominent historian, emphasizes that "women's history exists always within
the context of universal history" and that the actions of women "take
place within the context of the political and social life shared by men
and women" (1981, 3). Women and men together create the history of
humankind, so they should be linked in the curriculum as common
contributors to the key events and developments of the human experience.
In addition to the preceding suggestions for integration, women can be
incorporated in the curriculum in other ways. In economics, study the
inequalities of income distribution and investigate why these inequalities
exist in the society. Analyze labor history and research what roles women
played in the early labor union movement. Examine studies done on the
unpaid sectors of the economy, where much of women's work falls. Study
other cultures and economies for comparisons to the U.S.
In sociology, in addition to examining the socialization process for
women, also examine charges of sex discrimination in the U.S., and what
these charges are based upon. Contact the sex equity division of the state
government to see what programs are available and what the state is doing
to ensure sex equity under the law. Research the roles of women in other
cultures and examine how those roles have changed over time.
Political science classes can research significant court cases that
have influenced women's rights in our country, and can examine the
recognition of women by the legal system, beginning with the law of
coverture in the colonies. Compare the rights of women in the United
States with the rights of women in other countries. In recent times, as
more countries are calling for greater democratization, women also are
calling for greater rights within that system.
Geography, world history, and world studies can involve the analysis of
the status of women in other countries and at other times to see what
rights, if any, women enjoyed in various societies. What did/does it mean
to be female in these nations? Compare and contrast the roles of women in
urban and rural areas within the country. What have been women's roles in
the history of the nations? Who were the notable women in history? What
influence has geography had on development, particularly as related to
women?
In United States history, focus not only on the notable token women but
also on the unsung heroines who went into the offices with the invention
of the typewriter and on how business changed as a result of this
expansion of the workforce. When teaching about Dorothea Dix's crusade for
more humane treatment of the mentally ill, research the conditions under
which the mentally ill were kept. When teaching of Margaret Sanger's work
in disseminating birth control information, teach about the poor with whom
she worked and the misery of poverty for the large immigrant families she
attended. Put these notable women into a social context so that the
conditions they encountered are understood, as well as the actions they
undertook. But do not forget the masses of ordinary women who sustain and
improve society in the workforce, in the struggle for equality under the
law, in the family as parents, and in various other ways.
By integrating women's studies into all aspects of the social studies,
the curriculum will coincide with Recommendation Seven of the report of
the Bradley Commission on History in Schools: "That history can best be
understood when the roles of all constituent parts of history are
included; therefore the history of women, racial and ethnic minorities,
and men and women of all classes and conditions should be integrated into
historical instruction" (1988, 8).
WHAT RESOURCES ARE RECOMMENDED
FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS?
Resources are available at the international, national, state, and
local levels. The International Center for Research on Women, 1717
Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 501, Washington, DC 20036, works with
developing countries worldwide. They disseminate their findings to those
concerned with economic and socioeconomic issues of developing nations,
especially with those relating to women.
The International Women's Tribune Center, 777 U.N. Plaza, Third Floor,
New York, NY 10017, answers requests for information and technical
assistance for those involved in women's projects on women in development
activities, and seeks to develop communications methods and educational
materials with regional women's groups.
The National Women's History Project (NWHP), P.O. Box 3716, Santa Rosa,
CA 95402, offers a wide variety of resources on women's studies. It was
initially through the efforts of the founders of this project that the
recognition of March as National Women's History Month was accomplished.
Beginning as a county celebration in 1977 in Sonoma County (California),
the movement spread to a co-sponsored Joint Congressional Resolution for
National History Week in 1981. Contact them for information on other
women's studies resources and information on celebrating National Women's
History Month.
The Upper Midwest Women's History Center, Central Community Center,
6300 Walker Street, St. Louis Park, MN 55416, was funded in 1980 by the
Women's Educational Equity Act. The resource center serves as a repository
for women's materials from worldwide sources, assists teachers with
curriculum materials and suggestions for women's studies, and can aid
communities and schools in better integrating women's studies.
Toward the end of the 1980s, THE FEMINIST TEACHER emerged as a
reader-developed magazine with the purpose of improving education about
women and gender-based issues. The editorial office address is 442
Ballantine Hall, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405. The magazine
contains articles and research on women's studies in addition to teaching
suggestions and strategies.
As Abigail Adams entreated her husband to "...remember the ladies...,"
so we too should remember them in the curriculum. Half of the story of
human life is omitted without it. If we are truly to educate the total
person, we can no longer afford to leave women out of the curriculum.
REFERENCES AND ERIC RESOURCES
The following list of resources includes references used to prepare
this Digest. The items followed by an ED number are in the ERIC system and
are available in microfiche and paper copies from the ERIC Document
Reproduction Service (EDRS). For information about prices, contact EDRS,
3900 Wheeler Avenue, Alexandria, Virginia 22304; telephone numbers are
703-823-0500 and 800-227-3742. Entries followed by an EJ number are
annotated monthly in CIJE (CURRENT INDEX TO JOURNALS IN EDUCATION), which
is available in most libraries. EJ documents are not available through
EDRS; however, they can be located in the journal section of most
libraries by using the bibliographic information provided below.
Anderson, Bonnie S., and Judith P. Zinsser. "A History of Their Own:
Women in Europe from Prehistory to the Present." Two Volumes. New York:
Harper & Row, 1988.
Bradley Commission on History in Schools. "Building a History
Curriculum: Guidelines for Teaching History in Schools." Washington, DC:
Educational Excellence Network, 1988. ED 310 008.
Constantinople, Anne, and others. "The Chilly Climate: Fact or
Artifact?" Journal of Higher Education 59 (September-October 1988):
527-50. EJ 380 262.
Garcia, Jesus, and Carol S. Woodrick. "The Treatment of White and
Non-White Women in U.S. Textbooks." Clearinghouse 53 (September 1979):
17-22. EJ 219 183.
Jeffrey, Jan, and Barb Craft. "Report of the Elementary School
Textbooks Task Force." Kalamazoo, MI: Kalamazoo Public Schools, 1973. ED
127 234.
Klein, Susan S., ed. "Handbook for Achieving Sex Equity through
Education." Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1985. ED 290
810.
Lerner, Gerda. "Teaching Women's History." Washington, DC: American
Historical Association, 1981.
Social Studies Textbook Review Committee. "1978-79 Michigan Social
Studies Textbook Study." Lansing: Michigan State Board of Education, 1979.
ED 196 762.
Tetreault, Mary Kay Thompson. "Women in America: Half of History."
Chicago, IL: Rand McNally & Company, 1978. ED 171 639.
Wirtenberg, Jeana, Robin Murez, and Rose Ann Alspektor. "Characters in
Textbooks: A Review of the Literature." Washington, DC: United States
Commission on Civil Rights, 1980. ED 190 718. -----
This publication was prepared with funding from the Office of
Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under
contract No. RI88062009. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect
the positions or policies of OERI or
ED. -----
Evelyn R. Holt is the Coordinator for School Social Studies, Social
Studies Development Center, Indiana University and the Executive Director
of the Indiana Council for the Social Studies.
Title: "Remember the Ladies"--Women in the Curriculum. ERIC Digest.
Document Type: Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis
Products (IAPs) (071); Guides---Non-Classroom Use (055); Information
Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073);
Target Audience: Teachers, Practitioners
Available From: ERIC Clearinghouse for Social Studies/Social
Science Education, 2805 East Tenth Street, Suite 120, Indiana University,
Bloomington, IN 47405.
Descriptors: Curriculum Development, Educational Strategies,
Elementary School Curriculum, Elementary Secondary Education, Females,
Feminism, Secondary School Curriculum, Sex Bias, Sex Stereotypes, Social
Studies, United States History, Womens Studies
Identifiers: ERIC Digests
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